The Witcher Easter eggs
From Wikipedia: ---- A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program, or video game. The term draws a parallel with the custom of the Easter egg hunt observed in many western nations. This practice is analogous to hidden signature motifs such as Diego Rivera including himself in his murals or Alfred Hitchcock's legendary cameo appearances. ---- This article will catalog easter eggs in The Witcher. The developers have stated that there are a fair number of themForum thread "Funny Stuff, little secrets, eastereggs..." (retrieved on 2007/11/10). Please note that some of these are unconfirmed, since I personally do not have the background and knowledge to know all of the references possible here. If any reference seems bogus, please discuss it on the talk page or put a note beside it. Also note that I just basically dumped these from the forum thread linked below and tried to categorize them as best I could, but some might belong in multiple categories so if someone thinks it's more logical to put them somewhere else, please do. We can remove the two notes above when enough people will have reviewed the contents of this page. Please use interwiki links to Wikipedia ( link text ) to link an item of information (movie title, name, etc.) so that people who want more information can get to it easily. Visual Easter Eggs * The runes on a sword tempered with temporary runes spell silentrun with what seems to be the futhark-based runic alphabet from Ultima. * In some of the houses and locations there is a picture hanging about of Leonardo Da Vinci (at least it looks very much like him). * In Kaer Morhen on the ground floor, there's a picture on the wall on which Geralt will comment with "Witcher George..." which shows striking similarities to the painting of Saint George and the Dragon. A "monster slayer" on a horse killing a scaly beast, more specifically Paolo Uccello's Saint George and the Dragon. * On the other side of the doorway from 'Witcher George' is another painting with serpents. Geralt says "Witchers are better with a sword than a paintbrush" when he approaches it. This painting features a man in a pose identical to the sculpture of Laocoon and his sons, battling with snakes. * Detective Raymond has the face of a head artist on The Witcher Team - Adam Badowski. You can see him in a video called "Making of Combat 2" on the official site. * The sword called Illegal Sword looks like the bone sword from the movie Brotherhood of the Wolf. * An advertisement in the Trade Quarter for a two hand axe: "The Terminator". * PFI reference from one of the guards near the gates of Old Vizima in Act II, and "Poor F...ng Infantry" graffiti on recruiting poster in Temple quarter. British acronym from WW1 and WW2. (There is also a reference to the Poor F...ing Infantry in the Witcher saga books, at least in Polish and Czech version. Ingame PFI might rather be a reference to the Witcher saga.) * In-game bestiaries, "The Tome of Fear and Loathing, volume I" and volume II, are possibly allusions to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. Auditory Easter Eggs Note: Most of these are random events - you'll walk by a townsperson and you'll hear them say something that will make you laugh. That means that it's possible that every single player might never hear every single one of these. * If you listen closely to the music during the cut scene in Act II where the boat is moving away from the docks (from Vizima to the Swamp) and the camera focus moves to the surface of the water, you can hear a musical cue similar to the Jaws theme. * Some random roaming NPCs will sometimes whistle The Imperial March from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. * The kids playing in the streets will sometimes sing a song based upon one from A Nightmare on Elm Street. * Peasants or citizens sometimes whistle a few tones from The Smurfs theme. * Some Squirrels in the sewers yell "Freeeeeeeeeedom!" like William Wallace in Braveheart. * One of the battle shouts of the guards in Act III when fighting kikimores in the streets is semper fi (which is a Latin motto used by many people, organizations and governments, including the United States Marine Corps). * Some elves at the Swamp camp say "First we take on Vizima, then we take on the world". That's a reference to Leonard Cohen (or it could also be a reference to Pinky and the Brain). * Sometimes you hear people muttering the phrase "Plans within plans within another plans."; which is a quote from the Dune novel by Frank Herbert. * In the Druids' Grove, one of the druids asks "Are you a fool seeking a magical strength-giving beverage?", which is an allusion to the Asterix-comic books. References to Other Games/Media * The detective (named Raymond Maarloeve) might seem strangely familiar if you've read any of the "Philip Marlowe" novels by Raymond Chandler. * The detective also has fisstech on his desk and says "Yes, elementary." Sherlock Holmes is often (incorrectly) cited as saying "Elementary, my dear Watson" and he does cocaine. * H. P. Lovecraft references: ** Certain things going on in the swamp are a clear nod to the novels and short-stories of H. P. Lovecraft. ** The first sentence of the description of Dagon is taken from H. P. Lovecraft. ** The statue in Vaska's hut resembles Cthulhu. ** The Vodyanoi resemble the Deep Ones * The person who invented explosives in The Witcher is called Alfred Nabel, and it is stated in the Prologue that he did not intend his invention to be used to blow things up. This is a reference to Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite and later on deeply regretted his inventing of the explosive due to its use on the battlefield as a means of killing. This led him to use the great fortune dynamite brought him to fund the Nobel PrizeThe Wikipedia article on dynamite (retrieved on 2007/11/10). * Monty Python references: ** There is a discussion between lumberjacks about wild flowers and crossdressing. ** Poor people in the Temple Quarter slums will sometimes say "Society made me what I am" as Geralt passes by. * The Hermit who speaks of a controversial theory (referring to the legend of the Holy Grail) is clearly referring to Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code * The fist fight champion in Act III, Andrew Gablodda is based on Andrzej Gołota (also known as Andrew Golota in the U.S.). * Another fist fighter in Act II is named Butterbean, which was the nickname of another boxer, Eric Esch. * Gramps is a cannibal in the Swamp who considers himself above his peers - a reference to Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. (A similar cannibal is depicted in the Witcher saga, called literally Gramps (Czech to English translation). He was encountered by Ciri and eventually killed. This might be again rather a reference to the Witcher saga.) * When Geralt knocks down someone in the fistfighting mini-game, the victory moves he does might be a reference to: ** Brad Pitt in Snatch ** Mani in Brotherhood of the Wolf when he gets into the fights before the big hunt. * There is a character named Patrick De Weyze in Act III - reference to Patrick Swayze. * When the Lady of the Lake gives him the silver sword Aerondight (Act IV), she is knighting Geralt - the phrases she uses are clearly taken out of the Kingdom of Heaven movie (the scene where the Baron of Ibelin passes his title to his son Balian, right before he dies). * Ramsmeat says the same thing to you when you piss him off as Jules does in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. * Kalkstein lives in the "ghetto" and is Jewish both in his name, his accent and his Sephardi resemblance. He maybe can be a reference to Einstein (who was Ashkenazim) or other Jewish scientists. Kalkstein also means "limestone" in German and Norwegian, which was once used in chemistry to neurtalize acid substances. * The bestiary entry in your journal on golems tells the story of the magician's apprentice from the Disney film Fantasia. * At the end, before you fight the King of the Wild Hunt, Geralt says something like, "I was afraid you'd suggest play chess", a reference to The Seventh Seal, in which the main character challenges Death to a chess match in order to buy some time... * Blue Eyes mentions Giacomo Casano(va) during a conversation with her. * You can buy the book "The Last Wish" from the book seller in the Merchant's Quarter in Act III and/or from the Hermit in the fields in Act IV. * A hunter in the Swamp in Act II says he wants to be the lord or master of Jägermeister, which is a German liqueur. But Jägermeister also means Master of the Hunt, and was regularly used in the Middle Ages, so its not necessarily an easter egg. *The quest Strangers in the Night is an obvious hint to Frank Sinatra's famous song *The Prison Break quest is also an obvious hint to the popular TV-series. References to Polish Culture * The Hairy Bear Inn refers to Winnie the Pooh (in Polish culture). * In the Polish version there's an ad for Schuttenbach Jewellery which says something like: "To us, every ring is the one". * Some NPCs mention "law and justice" which is a reference to the controversial ex-Polish rulling party - Law and Justice. * Kalkstein is President of Poland's "real surname", according to "the list of Jews", and his gnome-roots, mentioned in the journal, are references to the small size of Kaczyński twins and the fact, that they're often called gnomes. * Ramsmeat - polish "baranina" - was a nickname for one of polish mafia bosses * Other ads may have some relation to Polish culture. * The Heat of the Day's plot is based on a romantic drama "Balladyna". Miscellaneous * The Lady of the Lake and the sword Aerondight are references to "the Lady in the Lake" and "Excalibur" from the English legend of King Arthur, in which "Arondight" is the sword of Sir Lancelot. References External Links * This forum thread on the official forums was the starting point for this page. Category:The Witcher (computer game)